A runway intrusion is defined as “any occurrence at an airport involving an aircraft, vehicle, person, or object on the ground that creates a collision hazard or results in a loss of separation with an aircraft taking off, intending to take off, landing, or intending to land.” FAA ORDER 7210.58. These occurrences can cause serious harm, including death. Naturally, runway intrusions are a major safety issue for aviation. As can be expected, these intrusions are more likely to occur when flight crews are unfamiliar with the airport environment. Due to this unfamiliarity, flight crews may lose overall awareness of their current position and cause a runway intrusion.
Ideally, all flight crews will be trained to be familiar with all airports. However, considering the vast number of airports, this is not a realistic solution. With the many changes in the airline industry and flight routes, even highly experienced flight crews can find themselves at an unfamiliar airport. Additionally, even if the flight crew is familiar with a particular airport, they may still lose overall awareness of their current position due to low visibility conditions.
For the reasons stated above, and for other reasons stated below which will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading and understanding the present specification, there is a need in the art for a graphical display system which will aid flight crews in maintaining overall awareness of their current position at unfamiliar airports and in low visibility conditions.